159
CHAPTER 7
MATTERS AFTER THE 15 JANUARY 1980
!
!
A. INTRODUCTION
Term (b) of my Terms of Reference enjoined me to consider “what official investigations immediately after the death of Inspector MacLennan were conducted, whether there were any shortcomings in them, and if so, what conclusions you draw as to the reasons for these shortcomings."
2.
I have already reported on the investigations during the day on which Inspector MacLennan died. Investigations by Pelly, which began that day, culminated in the report which he submitted to the coroner, and based on part of which, the Inquest was conducted. However, had it not been for an event which took place on 19 January 1980, Pelly's investigations would have been typical of, though perhaps more complex than, a normal investigation into the circumstances of death. The event in question was the publication by a local newspaper, The Sun, of certain allegations made by Mrs. Elliott. Mrs. Elliott alleged that MacLennan was the victim of “high-powered Police frame-up”, because he had "investigated homosexual offences involving high-ranking Policemen.” In the same front page article, the Sun also quoted Mrs. Elliott as having said that MacLennan was "put-up" by Senior Policemen and dismissed from the Force two years previously until the Governor intervened and saved his job. And it went on to say that Mrs. Elliott had recently come across another allegation of a frame-up of three Policemen, including MacLennan, and had brought this to the attention of the Attorney General three weeks before MacLennan's death. Because of this article Pelly decided to widen the scope of his investigations.
3.
Quickly following in the wake of the Elliott allegations published in the Sun was a letter from Mr. Howard Lindsay to the Coroner, dated 23 January 1980. This letter was passed by the Coroner to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. Moor, who ordered Pelly to conduct an investigation into the allegations contained in the letter, all of which concerned Fulton and MacLennan. Pelly submitted a report for the Deputy Commissioner on 18 March 1980.
4.
Also on 19 January 1980, Mrs. Elliott wrote to the Attorney General, Mr. John Griffiths, Q.C. In this letter, Mrs. Elliott briefly recaputilated the events which led to John MacLennan's reinstatement. She went on to describe what in her terms was "a deliberate plan by two Policemen named Brooks and Quinn to frame him (MacLennan).” Mrs. Elliott wrote that the person asked to take part in this plan was a Police Inspector named Fulton, but Fulton refused to stage the crime. Partly as a result of this letter, and partly as a result of a meeting which the Attorney General had with Mrs. Elliott on 24 January 1980, before the letter was received, the Attorney General embarked upon his own investigations of the allegations made by Mrs. Elliott regarding Inspector Fulton and the alleged "frame-up" of MacLennan. These investigations resulted in his correspondence with Mrs. Elliott in February 1980, the referral of the Fulton allegations to the Complaints Against Police Office in May 1980, a public debate with Mrs. Elliott sometime in June 1980 as to what action was or was not taken with regard to the Fulton allegations, and the Attorney General's telephone call on or about 2 July 1980 to Mr. Ashley Burns, an Assistant Solicitor of the firm of Solicitors acting for Inspector Fulton.
5.
After the record of the Coroner's Inquest was forwarded to the Attorney General, and when he was considering whether or not he should re-open the Inquest, he made certain independent enquiries. On 23 May 1980, he called
a press conference to announce his decision not to re-open the Inquest: “as there was overwhelming evidence at the Inquest into the death of Inspector MacLennan which shows he committed suicide."
6.
By a liberal construction of my Terms of Reference, I regard all those investigations as having been conducted "immediately" after MacLennan's death. They encompassed matters, in particular Fulton's allegations, which went to the root of the public disquiet surrounding the death of MacLennan. In my view it woud be unrealistic for me not to deal with them.
B. SUPERINTENDENT PELLY'S INVESTIGATIONS FOR THE CORONER
7.
As has been seen in the previous Chapter, Pelly was appointed the Investigating Officer by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. P. T. Moor, on 15 January 1980, at about 1.00 p.m. Mr. Pelly immediately set about his task by an independent examination of the premises. He came to the conclusion that it was suicide. He stayed on in the afternoon to assist in the removal of MacLennan's personal effects. He began his task in earnest on the following day.
8. As with any death enquiry, the Investigating Officer is guided by the coroner's Rules. Mr. Pelly was an experienced Police Officer. He had taken part in many death inquests before and had written many death reports. He knew what was required in the circumstances. In evidence, he correctly indicated that he first envisaged his task as
Page 150Page 151